Our Boys

I just love it when the boys all play together.  And I love that they love to read :)


And these photos I just couldn't resist sharing.

Grandpa and Oma Come to Town

Grandpa and Oma Haveman came to visit over Memorial weekend and stayed for a week before going up to Wisconsin to visit some friends.  It was great to see them and spend time with them.  The boys were spoiled with hugs and stories :)  We took a day to visit the zoo... James' favourite exhibit was the swamp with the crocodiles.  We watched a Memorial Day parade here in Crete as well as a car show the following week.  Much of the time was spent relaxing and visiting... it was great!

Grandpa sharing his popcorn with Lucas.  Mom and I went to the farmers market and I got some plants while she got kettlecorn.  We also tried some raisin rye bread, yummy!!  While we were out and about, Jerry and his dad got greasy.

Oma kept her hands busy knitting a scarf... Peter kept her company and laughed at her jokes. 

And Jerry caught some air in his truck.  Haha...  But you should now see the grass at the bottom of the hill.  Oops.

Snapshots in Canada

These are the Cub cars from my brother John and his boys.  They all won trophies!!  I want to say that Daniel's won at the big cadeterie and the other two won at the Wellandport church event. What great talent, eh?  The batmobile is Daniel's, the truck is John's, and the charger/challenger (can't remember what he said it was) is Michael's.

Olivia (Angeline's youngest) and Lucas.

Samuel and James.  Samuel brought along cars to share with  James and the boys zoomed them all over.

Oma reading stories.  Peter is getting right in there and digesting stories already :)

We went to visit my brother Arend at his home.  He's doing pretty good... he can move his left leg and so is able to walk small distances with support (like up the five steps to his house).  We went for a small walk in the neighbourhood and one of the neighbours had a digger the boys could sit in.  James loved it ALOT.  Arend and Rosee had a toy digger from Colin that James would not put down, so that combined with the real life toy equaled digger in my tahoe coming back to Illinois.  It has a new home in our sandbox.

Daniel gave the boys and Janelle a ride aroud the property on Sunday afternoon.  They loved it!  Thanks Daniel :)

Opa and Peter... oh and John in the background :)

Lucas Turns 2

On Lucas' birthday, we decided to take the boys to the zoo.  It was a great time, but unfortunately we were under-dressed for the weather.  The whole time I complained (in my defense, I had goose-flesh every time we stepped outside) and my heart went out to my boys who did not complain.  (I figure if I'm cold, everyone must be cold!) We did see some interesting animals, but our favourite stop was the monkey house.

Happy Birthday to you!!

Our little Lucas always has a smile at the ready... and a lady killer of a smile too, I might add, with those dimples.  He's a sweetheart, quick with a hug.... like the other day I got James in trouble for whatever and Lucas pats his head and says "it's OK" in his Lucas language.  Sweetie.  But beware of his easy nature... if you push too many buttons he is not afraid to strike out.  He is mostly cured of his biting tendencies, but I have still caught him leaning in for the kill; he's moved on to bopping James repeatedly.  

For his birthday, Lucas got some wooden trucks.  Surprised?  One day I was trying to wake him up from his nap, but he was not very interested in getting up until I asked him, "do you want to see Daddy's truck?", he was up like a flash and out the door looking for his boots.